London (AFP)
Filmmaker Roger Michell, director of the romantic comedy "Love at first sight in Notting Hill", died Wednesday at the age of 65, his family announced Thursday.
"It is with great sadness that the family of Roger Michell, director, author and father of Harry, Rosie, Maggie and Sparrow, announce his death at the age of 65 on September 22," according to a statement from his agent.
The causes of his death have not been disclosed.
Son of a diplomat, Roger Michell was born on June 5, 1956 in South Africa, and lived as a child in Beirut, Damascus and Prague, before returning to the United Kingdom.
He began his career in theater and television, where he directed series and television films.
Roger Michell went to the cinema in 1996 by bringing to the screen the play "My Night With Reg".
But it is in 1999 that he obtains the consecration with the romantic comedy "Love at first sight in Notting Hill", with headlining Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
Having become a classic of the genre, the film written by Richard Curtis traces the love story of a Hollywood star and a London bookseller.
In 2002, he directed "Uncontrolled Dérapages", with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, or in 2017 "My Cousin Rachel", with Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz.
In early September, he promoted "The Duke" at the Telluride Film Festival.
The film due for release at the end of the year tells the story of the theft of a Goya painting by a taxi driver in London in the 1960s.
He was married to actress Kate Buffery, with whom he had two children, and then to actress Anna Maxwell Martin, with whom he also had two children before their separation.
© 2021 AFP